


bitter honey

by lunarmates



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: ...sort of, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Hate to Love, JuminZen Week, M/M, Slow Burn, and zen continued his education after running away, barista!au, jumin is just being honest, oh and this is made for, where zen jaehee saeran and yoosung attend the same university
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 07:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11031804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarmates/pseuds/lunarmates
Summary: “Good morning! May I—“ Zen whipped around and saw  a tall man wearing a sleek black polo with an incredibly, incredibly handsome face. “take your order?”(an au where zen is a broke college student who works part time at a coffee shop)





	bitter honey

Zen is beyond grateful to Jaehee Kang.  


The woman is intelligent, hard-working and professional in a way that companies won’t hesitate to hire her once they graduate. She was efficient in both her studies and part time job while still maintaining an impressive 4.0 GPA.  


Which is why Zen never thought that she would even bother staying friends with him.  


Zen performed in enough musicals to notice the brown-haired woman always present in the front row. Deciding that her support cannot be missed, the actor approached her during one of their university’s boring lunch breaks while she typed away on her laptop. Jaehee’s eyes shone when she said that it was an “honor” to meet her favorite actor, even if they study in the same college. Zen told her that _he was not a big deal._  


Turns out he was right, because Zen is positive that his lifespan increased by a hundred percent when she offered to help him study and suggested eating anything other than fish shaped bread and drinking beer. She improved his day-to-day life more than he could ask for and Zen would really love to pay her back—except that he can’t.  


He was broke.  


Which brought him to work part-time at the coffee shop Jaehee was also working for.  


Zen was no beginner at working, as his passion for theater often led him to do mini gigs since he was in high school. Handling his education and career at the same time was too tiring even for a runaway teenager like him so it led him to failed tests and bad habits. But now that he’s in college and theater kids were given a low budget, he knows that he’ll be spiraling down in no time if he goes on like this.  


The idea of being a barista didn’t sound so awful once he heard it from his own best friend. _Since when Jaehee wasn’t helpful?  
_

__

===  


“Thank you for ordering!” Zen flashed one of his dashing smiles at the old lady who was about to leave the cafe.  


Adjusting to his work was easy as he was used to being in front different kinds of people.  


The difference is Zen could now see them up close, and he seized the opportunity to give them optimistic greetings and throw out random genuine compliments because why the hell not? He isn’t there as an actor and his lines aren’t scripted right now. Seeing them smile gave Zen a warm, fuzzy feeling on his chest.  


The wind chimes rang and Zen concluded that it was the old lady who left. He turned back and removed the papers hanging from the order list when someone cleared their throat.  


“Good morning! May I—“ Zen whipped around and saw a tall man wearing a sleek black polo with an incredibly, _incredibly_ handsome face. “take your order?”  


“Cappuccino Royale,” His low voice sounded like honey to Zen’s ears and the actor shook away the thoughts as fast as they came.  


Zen excused himself and went inside the pantry to get the ingredients.  


…Maybe not. “Saeran?” No answer. “Can you cover for me? They didn’t teach this in training,”  


A wooden cabinet door closed. “Are you sure,”  


“Wha- yes! Here, I’ll do that,” Zen gave him a grin and the red head huffed in response.  


===  


A few minutes later Saeran came back and the guy from earlier sat in one of the mahogany stools near the counter. If it was under a different circumstance, Zen would’ve already struck a conversation with him. The actor sighs. _What a missed opportunity._  


Zen had served his fifth customer when a deep voice rang out again.  


“The espresso was too bitter,”  


Zen blinked. “Sir?”  


“The foam is too thick. There were too many chocolate sprinkles. The sweetness and bitterness were too much the flavors clashed with each other,” All of Zen’s fantasies about him were down in the drain in a second. _What a jerk._  


“… Sir,” _Control yourself, Hyun._ “We’re absolutely sorry that our drink didn’t suit your taste. Perhaps you would like to order another kind? It will be our pleasure to satisfy-“  


“The brown-haired woman would’ve made better coffee,” The man left his seat and started to wear his trench coat.  


Zen’s eyebrows twitched. “You must be talking about Jaehee Kang? I agree that she makes the best coffee here but sir,” The actor’s gaze hardened as he coated his words with sarcasm. “Saeran makes the best Affogato. I would recommend trying it before criticizing his skills, _sir._ ”  


No perfect human being exists because even Zen knows that he has flaws. First being his fiery hot temper that only seemed to bring him trouble in tricky situations, and second is his overprotectiveness in his own friends which isn’t so good, either.  


This jerk managed to push these buttons at the same time.  


The barista gulped and stared wide eyed at the customer. Zen lowkey prayed that he wouldn’t take it seriously, because this guy looked like he could get him fired in one second and he isn’t even the manager.  


A minute passed when the guy finally lifted his gaze on Zen. “…Interesting,” He sat down again.  


_… That’s it?_ “…Should I take that as your order, sir?"  


“I suppose.” Zen didn’t look back as he hurried to the pantry once again. He made sure that the door was closed before he called out, “Saeran? Are you done yet?”  


“These are three huge ass cabinets, hyung. What do you think?”  


“… someone ordered an Affogato?”  


“You know how to make Affogato,”  


“No, dude, it has to be yours! If you only heard all those shit he said—“  


“I did.”  


“I couldn’t let him say that, that jer- wait what?”  


Saeran pushed past him and said ‘whatever’ with a blank face. Zen leaned on the door, slid down, and whimpered.  


===  


Zen went out the pantry after some time and composed himself. He saw no traces of the unnamed customer earlier, and the actor let out a pleased sigh.  


Saeran was wiping the countertops clean.  


“What did he say?”  


“Vanilla ice cream was good,” The shorter male put the rag and spray back in the cabinet. “Also asked if you were new.”  


“H-he did?” Zen got tired after the encounter that he thought a mere stranger drew out a great deal of emotions and reactions from him almost as much as his musicals did was pathetic.  


He didn’t like this feeling.  


Before going back, Saeran looked him in the eye and said, “Don’t go all protective on me, I’m not a damn kid. How about you do your job right?” Zen was about to apologize but then he added, “Don’t be an _idiot,_ hyung.” His gaze was soft and almost childlike.  


__

Zen smiles.  


===  


Rehearsing for his musicals and practicing his lines back in his apartment was exhausting enough for Zen. Adding his new work, the actor started to question if he’ll ever get a decent amount of sleep. He also noticed that the dark shades under his eyes are getting worse every time he took a selfie.  


He yawned and went back to arrange the mason jar displays.  


“One cinnamon roll and toffee latte coming up!” Jaehee went over the coffee grinder and Zen grabbed one of the plastic trays and served the roll. Tuesdays are better than Mondays, but there were still a handful of people that came.  


Traffic outside mixed with the customer’s chatters created a busy ambiance in the café. The smell of freshly baked pastries and strong coffee beans thankfully overwhelmed Zen’s senses because he feels like he can pass out from fatigue any time now.  


Jaehee served the dish whilst the teenager thanked her. She smiled back.  


“Jaehee?”  


She looks at him. “Yes, Zen?”  


“Do you know anybody- uh,” Zen fidgeted with the edge of his apron, “a tall customer who has black hair, pale skin? Looks sort of rich,” _And has a jawline that could cut thirty men._  


The brown-haired woman seems to think for a moment. “Did he bring his cat with him?”  


“What? No, no he didn’t,” His nose started to itch at the mere thought. He would’ve ran out of the café in a second. “His bag, though. It had a pattern of cat paws in it.”  


Jaehee collected the used plastic cups placed at the bar and put it in the trash bin. “Customers come and go, but I think I remember him,” Zen handed her a bottle of water from the fridge. ”He only visits every week; do you think he’s a food critic? I’ve never seen anyone look so serious while ordering coffee before,” She let out a chuckle.  


Zen remembered the unfortunate incident. “I kinda gave him a piece of my mind yesterday,”  


“Did something happen?” Jaehee’s eyes glinted with curiosity and amusement.  


“He said shitty things about Saeran’s cappuccino in front of my face,”  


“…Zen-“  


“He acted so much like a brat, Jaehee! My eyes were about to pop out of my head. He had zero modesty, and if I were you I would never go for a guy like him. Don’t do it, Jaehee. He doesn’t deserve you-“  


“I don’t like guys, Zen-ssi.”  


“…Oh.” _How could Zen forget?_  


===  


Only two days had passed when Zen saw a wisp of familiar dark hair again.  


“Jaehee, why is he here-“  


“Maybe he changed pace?” She hurried to the counter and greeted their unexpected visitor but Zen could tell that she was also shocked.  


Zen stayed at the right side of the bar, opposite to where the man sat drinking his coffee to avoid awkward interactions. Yet the actor kept on glancing, wondering how could a pretty face have such a bratty attitude. _Or maybe I judged him too quickly?_ No matter what the situation is, this man is very easy on the eyes.  


Yup, Zen’s judgment is a jumbled mess.  


“Jaehee, you told me you’re graduating earlier this semester?” The wave of people died down as the sun rose higher and only a few were left.  


Jaehee nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Mhm. And an eight-month break, finally,”  


Zen is delighted to see her smile and hear the relief in her voice. “Jaehee… you love working here, right? I bet they would hire you in no time since you’re great at what you do,” He absentmindedly fiddled with the cuffs of his long sleeves. The stranger is now staring at them.  


Jaehee glanced at Zen with a knowing look. “I would love to but I’d rather work in a more stable position,” She stood up straight and perched her glasses higher. “A small-scale coffee shop like this can easily get bankrupt nowadays.” The actor heard the hesitation behind her words.  


“But-“  


“Kang has a point. She’s good at handling her work but still doesn’t know the principles behind what she does, considering that she’s just a graduate. It would take years of experience and training to be able to manage business, let alone building her own.” A deep voice rang out and Zen was irritated in an instant. _This is a private conversation!_ Jaehee looked mildly uncomfortable but nodded politely.  


Zen didn’t look back to where the guy was sitting and said, “Jaehee, I was never as hardworking as you are but nothing will make you happier in life than doing what you love. Don’t,” He glared at the jerk from the corner of his eyes, “let anyone or anything stop you.”  


The guy sipped the last of his Mocha. “I am not stopping her. She has her own choice, though I would prefer someone as highly efficient like her to work at a high class corporation-“  


Zen’s stance is formidable as he whipped around to face the stranger. “And what, overwork herself again? She went through enough tough shit in college! She’ll pursue whatever makes her happy,”  


“She still needs experience,”  


“She will learn along the way!”  


The man shrugged. “She has her own choice,”  


“And I will not let your bullshit influen—“  


“In fact, I do.”  


“Zen,” She looks at the man. Her hazel eyes seemed to lose some of its constant lightness and her voice edged. “and sir, with all due respect, I am capable of making my own decisions and the path of my career choices isn’t something to be discussed,” Zen gulped as she looked at him with an unreadable expression. “Zen, please clean up some of the tables. And sir, if you’re done with your coffee, please refrain from staying any longer as some of our customers will need space. We hope you’re satisfied with our service,”  


Zen pursed his lips onto a thin line as he moved past Jaehee.  


_Dammit._  


===  


Zen spent the rest of his shift doing what Jaehee told him to. When he was about to take his leave, he noticed the jerk’s cup stood still in the same place. Zen felt a pang of guilt and reminded himself that he needs to apologize to Jaehee soon. _Got too protective again, huh? Damn._  


He grabbed the cup and a tissue fell out of his grasp. Zen was about to put it in the waste bin when he saw something written in a crisp handwriting:  


**+82)010-8125-(#@) Call meow**  


Zen sneezed.  


And _oh god_ he couldn’t believe what just happened. He felt the tip of his ears get warmer and his face flushed bright red.  


The tissue rested on his palm like he was the exorcist and the demon is on his own hands.  


He was so red that if she looked Jaehee would mistake him for having an allergy attack except that none of him are swollen.  


My god, what kind of being is this guy?  


===  


“Zen-ssi, are you sure about this?”  


Zen parked his motorcycle at the sidewalk and adjusted the phone near his ear. “I’m sorry Jaehee, this is our last week of practice and basically everyone is going crazy in here--“ He pulled his scarf down. “I found someone who’s going to fill me in when I’m gone. I’m really sorry, I’ll get back as soon as possible I swear,”  


“No need. Just do your best at rehearsals,” There were sounds of chairs being dragged and placed. _Jaehee must be opening the cafe now._ “But… Kim Yoosung? Doesn’t he already work in the afternoon shift?”  


Zen chuckled. “Yup, he’s with Saeran most of the time. He’s on his break so it wouldn’t be a problem,”  


“Uh- Right!” Jaehee sighed across the line. “I’ll get going now. Yoosung will… come on time, right?”  


“Mhm. Don’t worry about it.”  


They said their goodbyes as Zen headed inside the theater, eager to warm himself up from the winter snow.  


===  


Jaehee kept glancing at the double doors. 8:20 am.  


It was twenty minutes after the opening and Zen’s replacement is still not present. Jaehee thanked the customer and let out a sigh afterwards. _I’m getting nervous now._ It was another Monday and she knew that she won’t be able to handle tons and tons of customers all in her own.  


She was on her sixth serving when the wind chimes rang again. Jaehee put the shot of espresso on the medium sized mug.  


“Good morning!”  


“Where is your co-worker?”  


Jaehee blinked. The man stared with an impassive face. _So much for having a nice weekend._  


“He’s on leave for the whole week due to his--“ She paused. _Can she say that in front of him?_ “class schedules. However, he found a replacement to fill his position for the mean time,”  


“And where is this replacement?” _Good question._ After a beat, _why is he asking me all these?_  


The confusion on her face was undoubtedly obvious. Nothing to lose is she tells the truth, right? “I was just about to contact him now, sir.” Before Jaehee can stop him, the raven haired man was walking towards the back door of the pantry. _Where is he going?_  


Jaehee entered through the front door and said, “Sir, I don’t know where you work, but I’m afraid that this section is strictly for employees,” She watched as the man stood beside one of the stock cabinets and pulled out a card from his leather wallet. The ink of his business card was clear in print and the corners shone blue.  


“C&R Chief Secretary Jumin Han. Pleased to meet you,”  


Jaehee doesn’t know if she should feel relieved or not.  


===  


Zen squeezed past the enormous amount of people walking as he hurried to get to his work on time.  


_8:20 am. Damn!_  


Even though he was already late the amount of relief he felt was jovial when the familiar entrance basked on his sight.  


“Jaehee!” He panted out as he relished the warmth and familiarity of the café insides. He pulled his scarf down.  


Zen let out a deep breath. “Jaehee, thank god we completed everything early—“  


“Early? I think not. You’re late by half an hour,”  


“Zen-ssi?!?” The unnamed man stood behind the bar with his arms crossed while Zen openly gaped at him.  


I-Is that his apron? The actor was now sure that the man knows that he’s checking him out but Zen couldn’t seem to bother. God help him, he was about to die from blood loss.  


Jaehee stood in front of Zen in a matter of seconds. “Zen, this is C&R’s Chief Secretary Jumin Han,” Her glasses glinted against the light. “He pays weekly visits to C&R’s extended branches to monitor their product and employees.”  


Zen was snapped out of his trance. “How-Why is he-“  


“Saeran called me and informed that Yoosung was sick and couldn’t cover your shifts,” Jaehee furrowed her brows and her eyes gleamed in concern. “Mr. Han showed up last Monday just before more customers came.”  


“Indeed. It was a very unwise decision of you, Zen.” The white-haired actor rolled his eyes and glared at the polished tiles. “You should be sure of your decisions as an employee. One thing could affect an entire crew—you can’t just leave Jaehee to do all the work.”  


“Hey! I know, I don’t need any scolding from you,” Zen shot him a frown before turning immediately to Jaehee. “Jaehee, I’m really sorry. Did I put you on trouble? I didn’t know that Yoo-“  


She gave him a soft smile. “It’s okay. Mr. Han- he’s been doing a nice job of filling your position ever since,”  


“I’ve been trained to do what most C&R employees do to know if they’re doing their job right,” Jumin’s steely eyes looked franker than before. “And please take a seat. You’re blocking the doorway.”  


"I’m not going anywhere near you, jerk.” Zen spat out as he sat on the mahogany stool near the counter.  


===  


In the end, Jaehee and Jumin served the rest of the customers while Zen waited for god knows what. He put his elbow on the counter and cupped his cheek with his palm. _I should’ve arrived later._  


Aside from that, he kept on apologizing to Jaehee and she told him that _it’s okay, I’m sorry for not telling you sooner_ and Zen made sure that she knows that he understands. Zen vaguely wonders what more could happen in the next days.  


He sighed and stared at the windows.  


In that second Friday morning of winter, Zen saw a hot mug of coffee pushed in front him.  


The actor looked up to see the face of Jumin Han looking back at him.  


Out of all the things he could’ve said, Zen muttered, “Jerk, I don’t drink frappe.”  


“It’s macchiato.” Zen looked away with a huff. How did he know?  


“Don’t assume what it is if you haven’t even looked at it.” Jumin crossed his arms in his chest. “Assistant Ka- rather, Jaehee told me what coffee you least hated,” The raven-haired man wiped his sweat using his towel and pulled his hair back and Zen thought that God just wouldn’t let him rest until this day was over.  


He shook the thought away. “Assistant? Are you planning to make her one of your company’s slaves?” He took hold of the cup and warmth radiated to his cold hands.  


“I can pay her back with an equal amount of salary,” Before he can protest, Jumin continued. “So what do you do?”  


What? Ridiculous. “Aiming for small talk now, are we?”  


Jumin looked confused. “I thought it was what commoners do to be polite?”  


_Commoners?!?_ Zen just can’t stand to look at this guy so he reluctantly opened the lid of his coffee cup. “Look, I totally do not understand how are we even having this conversa— a-achew!”  


Jaehee looked at him from the counter. Jumin looked even more confused.  


“Damn!” He opened his bag knowing full well that he didn’t have tissues. “What’s wrong with you? Drawing a cat in latte art? Is that the best you can do?”  


The tall male looked nonplussed. “Cats are glorious beings, Zen. And if you can’t see that—“  


“I am allergic to cats, okay! God, I feel like sneezing again,” Tissues and a short stirrer was handed to him. Zen was lowkey thankful for his mini (although _fake_ ) allergy attack because he felt himself flush as he touched Jumin’s soft hand.  


It lasted for only half a second. Zen absolutely hates acting like a blushing teenager in front of this guy.  


He was also a little bit in love with it.  


The actor covered his nose to prevent any future snot coming out. “Just mix the macchiato if you hate it that much,” Jumin’s voice sounded normal yet Zen can feel him hiding his amusement. “Though I prefer appreciating your server’s efforts and not insult them directly,”  


“No thank you. I do not appreciate it and don’t tell me anything about all that ‘insulting’ stuff because I’m positive that you did the same thing to Saeran weeks ago,”  


“He was in the pantry,”  


“He still heard all of it!”  


“Not my problem,” _Christ,_ Zen can feel his head start to ache. “and one week ago. It was necessary, I am the one who monitors the cafes after all,”  


Damn. “Yeah yeah whatever, but you still didn’t have to be an asshole about it.” Zen stirred the coffee until there were no longer any trace of the cat art.  


Silence played, then Jumin spoke up again. “Why do you look so red? You’ve been here for almost half an hour now,”  


Now, this really bothered Zen because _he actually doesn't know why._ “None of your business, jerk.” His macchiato tasted even more delicious in his tongue than the past times. Strong yet delicate, almost intoxicating.  


“Did you see my number?”  


The actor almost spluttered out his drink. He gulped and looked up at Jumin, his eyes frantic. “W-why would you ask that?” What the hell was he supposed to say?  


“I obviously left it there for you,” He kept his ambivalent stare and Zen grew more and more agitated under his gaze. Or maybe those are just butterflies in his stomach? “Do commoners have another way of showing interest with each other?”  


The butterflies were gone in an instant. “Okay, dude, slow down,” He heaved breath. “I--“  


Zen was speechless.  


Jumin’s voice became tender. “Won’t you give me a chance?”  


“I- Look,” Zen clenched his jaw and finally gathered the courage to look up at Jumin. “I don’t like you, I don’t hate you either… I guess. I just don’t understand how your brain works,” Something flashed across Jumin’s eyes. “so, if you really want to… court me, it’s going to take a long time. I’m pretty sure that we didn’t grow up in the same environment, Jumin. You have to understand that.”  


The stranger in front of him suddenly didn’t feel like one anymore as Jumin’s cold eyes turned into a soft grey, saying things that he couldn’t seem to.  


Zen felt a tug in his heartstrings.  


“…Thank you.” Jumin leaned over the counter in front of Zen. His gentle hand took hold of Zen’s free one, brought it up to his lips and gave it chaste kiss.  


Jaehee’s eyes widened from where she was serving a cheesecake to one of the tables.  


The customers stared fondly.  


Zen’s eyes widened and he pulled away, a radiant blush staining his cheeks. “Jerk!” He whispered as he looked away because he was sure that Jumin is openly giving him one of his smug smirks.  


It was just a beginning for them, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> whew hello this is your dear author navi and i hoped you enjoyed reading it!!! (✿◠‿◠)
> 
> twitter: @haijimes
> 
> kindly leave a kudos if you liked it and constructive criticism is welcome!


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